Telephone call monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A method for monitoring agent telephonic interactions with customers, the method including a) receiving a CTI datum associated with a telephone call between an agent and a party, b) determining whether the telephone call is to be recorded by determining whether the CTI datum meets at least one predefined monitoring condition, and, if so, c) recording at least a portion of the telephone call.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to telephone call monitoring systems ingeneral, and in particular to apparatus and methods for loggingtelephone calls according to non-time-based scheduling criteria.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telephone call monitoring systems are increasingly being used bybusinesses to monitor the effectiveness of agents who receive telephonecalls. In prior art telephone call monitoring systems data are typicallycollected on each incoming call to the system. This data consists of alog of events occurring in the system over time for an incoming call.Typical logged data elements are receipt of call, call offered to anapplication, call presented to an agent or an agent group, call handledor abandoned and length of call. The data representing these dataelements are then processed to generate reports for use by management orsupervisory personnel. The data may be organized in any number of ways,such as by agent, telephone trunk, agent groups and the like. Based onthis information, management and supervisory personnel are able toevaluate an agent's telephone call activity and take corrective actionwhere an agent's performance falls below acceptable norms.

Unfortunately, prior art telephone call monitoring systems are limitedill their ability to discriminate between different telephone calls andagents based on criteria other than simple scheduling imperatives andrely almost entirely on human intervention to evaluate the quality ofservice provided by an agent. Prior art telephone call monitoringsystems that provide for telephone call recording typically recordeither all telephone calls received by an agent or record telephonecalls according to a schedule.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved system and methodsfor logging telephone calls according to non-time-based schedulingcriteria that overcomes disadvantages inherent in the prior art.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) receiving a CTI datum associatedwith a telephone call between an agent and a party, b) determiningwhether the telephone call is to be recorded by determining whether theCTI datum meets at least one predefined monitoring condition, and, ifso, c) recording at least a portion of the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the CTI datum is either of the telephone number of the partyand the telephone number dialed by the party.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the CTI datum is a business information datum of the party.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when the business informationdatum is in a database of business information data whose calls are tobe recorded.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when the business informationdatum is not in a database of business information data whose calls arenot to be recorded.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when the telephone number isin a database of telephone numbers whose calls are to be recorded.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when the telephone number isnot in a database of telephone numbers whose calls are not to berecorded.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when a portion of thetelephone number matches a predetermined telephone number portion.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is met when a portion of thetelephone number does not match a predetermined telephone numberportion.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step c) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call while recording in synchronicity at least a portionof the agent's interactions with a computer during the telephone call.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step c) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) receiving a CTI datum associatedwith a telephone call between an agent and a party, b) determiningwhether recording the telephone call will satisfy a metric notassociated with the telephone call, and, if so, c) recording at least aportion of the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes maintaining the number of callswhich the agent has received, the number of the calls which have beenrecorded, and a percentage of the agent's calls which are to berecorded, and where the metric is a percentage of the agent's callswhich are to be recorded.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes associating the agent with adepartment, and maintaining the number of calls which the department hasreceived, the number of the calls which have been recorded, and apercentage of the department's calls which are to be recorded, and wherethe metric is a percentage of the department's calls which are to berecorded.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes associating the agent with asupervisor, and maintaining a number of calls which the supervisor is tomonitor in a given time period, and where the metric is a maximum numberof calls to be recorded for the supervisor within the time period.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step c) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call while recording in synchronicity at least a portionof the agent's interactions with a computer during the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step c) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) determining whether the agent'sinteractions with a computer during a telephone call received by theagent meets at least one predefined monitoring condition, and, if so c)recording at least a portion of the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is whether input has been enteredinto any data field appearing on a display of the computer.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is whether input has been enteredinto at least one specific data field appearing on a display of thecomputer.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is whether at least one specific datafield appears on a display of the computer.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step b) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call while recording in synchronicity at least a portionof the agent's interactions with a computer during the telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) determining whether an agentsatisfies a monitoring condition, and, if so b) recording at least aportion of a telephone call received by the agent.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the monitoring condition is whether the agent has a specificskill.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes maintaining a score for the agentand where the monitoring condition is whether the score is less than orequal to a predetermined reference score.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes maintaining a score for theagent and where the monitoring condition is whether the score is greaterthan or equal to a predetermined reference score.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step b) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step b) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call while recording in synchronicity at least a portionof the agent's interactions with a computer during the telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) pre-recording a first speechportion of a telephone call received by an agent b) determining whetherthe speech portion satisfies a monitoring condition, and, if so c)recording at least a second portion of the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes combining the first and secondportions.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes identifying at least one wordspoken during the telephone call and where the monitoring condition iswhether the word is in a database of words which require the recordingof telephone calls.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes identifying a plurality of wordsspoken during the telephone call and where the monitoring condition issatisfied when at least one word in a database of words is absent fromthe plurality of words.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes determining a speech rate ofwords spoken during the telephone call and where the monitoringcondition is whether the speech rate exceeds a predefined speech rate.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes determining a speech rate ofwords spoken during the telephone call and where the monitoringcondition is whether the speech rate is slower than a predefined speechrate.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes determining the number of wordsspoken during the telephone call and where the monitoring condition iswhether the number of words exceeds a predefined number of words.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes determining the number of wordsspoken during the telephone call and where the monitoring condition iswhether the number of words is less than a predefined number of words.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the determining step includes determining a state of emotionpresent during the telephone call and where the monitoring condition iswhether the state of emotion exceeds a predefined emotion threshold.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step b) includes recording an audio portion ofthe telephone call while recording in synchronicity at least a portionof the agent's interactions with a computer during the telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) recording, during a telephonecall between an agent and a party, either of at least a first audioportion of a telephone call and at least a first agent interaction witha computer, and b) recording, after the conclusion of the telephonecall, at least a second agent interaction with the computer inassociation with either of the first portion and the first interaction.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recording step b) includes recording until a stopcondition is reached.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the stop condition is an elapsed period of time.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the stop condition is the receipt of a notification of asecond telephone call in progress with the agent subsequent to thefirst-mentioned telephone call.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) receiving a plurality ofnotifications that a plurality of customer telephone calls are currentlyin progress with a plurality of agents, b) determining whether recordingresources are currently available for recording, and, if so c) recordingat least a portion of any of the telephone calls selected at random andcurrently in progress with one of the plurality of agents, and d)recording in synchronicity with the recording step c) at least a portionof the one of the plurality of agent's interactions with a computerduring the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention any of the recording steps continue recording until therecording resources are no longer currently available for recordingthereto.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the recorded agent interaction with a computer includes atleast one screen shot of a display of the computer.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for monitoring agent telephonic interactionswith customers, the method including a) pre-recording a plurality oftelephone calls between a plurality of agents and a plurality ofparties, b) determining whether any of the telephone calls is to beretained by determining whether any of the telephone calls meets atleast one retention condition, and, if so, c) tagging the telephone callto be retained with a retention indicator.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method further includes d) tagging the telephone call tobe retained with a release indicator indicating when the retentionindicator is to be removed.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the release indicator indicates a predefined period of timeafter which the retention indicator is to be removed.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the release indicator indicates that the retention indicatoris to be removed subsequent to performing an evaluation of the telephonecall.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the release indicator indicates that the retention indicatoris to be removed after a predefined period of time subsequent toperforming an evaluation of the telephone call.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the release indicator indicates a storage threshold and wherethe retention indicator is removed after the storage threshold isexceeded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theappended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary Automatic CallDistribution (ACD) system connected to an external telephonic networkand agent telephonic workstations in which a telephone call monitoringsystem, constructed and operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention, may be advantageously implemented;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a telephone call monitoringsystem, constructed and operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a method of operationof the telephone call monitoring system of FIG. 2, the method beingoperative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4-20 are simplified flowchart illustrations of implementations ofthe monitoring condition step 200 of FIG. 3, operative in accordancewith multiple preferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a simplified flowchart illustration of an implementation ofrecording step 400 of FIG. 3, operative in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 22 is a simplified flowchart illustration of a method of operationof monitoring system 16 of FIG. 1, the method being operative inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Notation Used Throughout

The following notation is used throughout this document.

Term Definition ACD Automatic Call Distributor. A telephony switchcapable of managing the automatic distribution of incoming calls toagents or sales representatives based on predefined call allocationalgorithms. ACDs are usually found in call centers. ANI Automatic NumberIdentification. The telephone number of the calling party. This data isprovided to the called party by the PSTN. CTI Computer TelephonyIntegration. A set of applications that integrates the telephonyresources and computerized resources of an organization in order toprovide added value services. CTI link An external port of a telephonyswitch via which an external computer can get information regardingcalls managed by the switch and can control the operation of the switchas well. DNIS Dialed Number Identification Service. A service thatidentifies the called telephone number. DTMF Dual Tone MultipleFrequency. A set of predefined combinations of tones generated bypressing the keys of a telephone set. IVR Interactive Voice Response. Acomputer-based product connected to a switch. IVR product enables aremote caller to pass or to retrieve information to or from a databaseor other computerized platform connected to the switch. The remotecaller controls the IVR using DTMF. PSTN Public Switched TelephoneNetwork. QA Quality Assurance.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which is a simplified block diagram ofan exemplary prior art Automatic Call Distribution system, hereinreferred to as ACD 10, connected to an external telephonic network 12and a plurality of agent telephonic workstations 14 in which amonitoring system 16, constructed and operative in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention, may be advantageouslyimplemented. ACD 10 routes incoming telephone calls received via network12 to a plurality of agent telephonic workstations 14. As will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, ACD 10 and telephonicworkstations 14 may be any of a number of different,commercially-available systems or devices used in ACD systems.

Monitoring system 16 is preferably in communication with ACD 10 forreceiving notifications of telephone calls that have been routed by ACD10 to agent telephonic workstations 14 and for receiving therefrom anyaudio portion of the telephone calls. Monitoring system 16 is alsopreferably in communication with agent telephonic workstations 14,either directly or via a computer network 20, such as a local areanetwork (LAN), for receiving screen data captured from a display 22 ofworkstation 14 before, during, or after a telephone call is received atworkstation 14, typically using any conventional screen data capturemeans assembled with workstation 14.

Monitoring system 16 preferably stores captured audio and screen data toone or more storage media 26 and provides captured audio and screen datato one or more supervisor workstations 18 either in real-time or laterin a playback mode where audio, screen data, and other data may bemonitored separately or simultaneously. Supervisor workstation 18preferably includes a display 24 for displaying information relating tothe operation of ACD 10 and to the performance of an agent as isdescribed in greater detail hereinbelow.

Additional reference is now made to FIG. 2 which is a simplified blockdiagram of monitoring system 16 of FIG. 1, constructed and operative inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.Monitoring system 16 preferably comprises a voice logger 28 whichreceives telephone call audio from ACD 10 and records the audio. Voicelogger 28 is typically connected to ACD 10 via an ACD input or outputchannel or via a LAN audio channel. Voice logger 28 may also provideaudio playback to ACD 10. A screen logger 30 is also provided whichreceives video screen data from workstations 14 and records the capturedscreen data. Monitoring system storage 27 is also provided, comprising acall database 34, a schedule database 38, a forms database 42, and anadmin database 46.

An event manager 32 receives notifications from ACD 10 of telephonecalls that have been routed to workstations 14 and preferably logsinformation regarding the calls received from ACD 10 in call database34. Such information typically includes the outside party's telephonenumber, the locations of the telephone call recordings in storage 26,the time the call was made or received, and the duration of the call.Event manager 32 may then control voice logger 28 and screen logger 30to begin recording audio and screen data of a telephone call for whichan event notification has been received. Event manager 32 is typicallyconnected to ACD 10 via a Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) port orvia an ACD management port. Event manager 32 may provide audio andscreen data associated with a particular telephone call as soon as it isswitched to supervisor workstation 18 for real-time monitoring, or mayreceive playback requests from supervisor workstation 18, in response towhich event manager 32 retrieves the requested audio and/or screen datafrom storage media 26 and provides the audio and/or screen data toworkstation 18 for output.

A scheduler 36 provides event manager 32 with scheduling informationstored in schedule database 38. The scheduling information may include:

1. how often to monitor a particular agent or all agents;

2. how often to monitor a particular agent group (where an agent in thegroup might then be selected at random for monitoring);

3. a percentage of calls to be monitored for a particular agent, allagents, an agent group, or department;

4. how many calls a particular supervisor or all supervisors are tomonitor in a given period.

The scheduling information may also include non-temporal “scheduling”criteria such as

1. telephone numbers of customers who should or should not be monitored;

2. specific data fields on display 22 (FIG. 1) that, when data areentered into the fields, signal that the call is to be monitored;

3. a table of agent scores and the monitoring frequency for each scorelevel;

4. a table of agent skills and the monitoring frequency for each skill;

5. words that, when spoken during a telephone call, signal that the callis to be monitored (e.g., obscenities);

6. words that, when not spoken during a telephone call, signal that thecall is to be monitored (e.g., “please” and “thank you”);

7. a table of speech rates and the monitoring frequency for each speechrate;

8. a table of word counts and the monitoring frequency for differentword counts; and

9. CTI data, including business information gathered regarding thecalling or called party.

Event manager 32 may use the information in database 38 to makescheduling determinations such as whether a telephone call received fromor made to a particular telephone number, such as may be determinedthrough Automatic Number Identification (ANI) or Dialed NumberIdentification Service (DNIS), is due to be recorded, whether aparticular agent is due for monitoring, whether the supervisor is due tomonitor any or a particular call or agent, or whether other callingfunctions, such as “call transfer” or “hold” as may be determinedthrough DTMF activation signals, require monitoring.

An evaluator 40 preferably provides a means for designing evaluationforms and for storing forms and evaluation data in forms database 42.Evaluation forms may be completed on-screen by a supervisor viaworkstation 18 or by an agent via workstation 14 for such purposes asevaluating agent performance or providing a customer interactiondebriefing. Evaluator 40 may also receive audio and/or screen data fromvoice logger 28 and screen logger 30 and perform automated evaluationsin accordance with preprogrammed algorithms. Such evaluations mayinclude determining what words are spoken during a telephone call andspeech rates using Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and speechrecognition technologies well known in the art. Event manager 32preferably accesses evaluation data stored in database 42 to supportmonitoring decisions as described hereinabove.

An admin module 44 provides for the definition of agents, supervisors,and other users and groups who may access various aspects of monitoringsystem 16 as well as security rules for such access. These definitionsare stored in admin database 46.

Although not particularly shown in FIG. 2, any of voice logger 28,screen logger 30, event manager 32, scheduler 36, evaluator 40, andadmin module 42 may access any of the information in databases 34, 38,42, and 46. For example, scheduler 36 may access admin database 46 todetect changes in agent detail and modify scheduling informationaccordingly.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a method of operation of monitoring system 16 of FIG. 1,the method being operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. In the method of FIG. 3 a notification of acustomer telephone call is received from ACD 10 indicating that a callis currently in progress with a particular agent (step 100). Eventmanager 32 (FIG. 2) then determines whether the telephone call is to bemonitored by determining whether at least one predefined monitoringcondition is true (step 200). If the condition is true, event manager 32signals voice logger 28 to record some or all of the audio of thetelephone call (step 300) and screen logger 30 to record insynchronicity with the audio recording of voice logger 28 some or all ofthe agent's interactions with the agent's workstation during thetelephone call, preferably in the form of screen data captures (step400).

A portion of the audio and/or screen data may be pre-recorded prior toand in support of performing step 200, in which the monitoring conditionis tested. Under such circumstances, the signals to record referred toin steps 300 and 400 may be understood as directives to continue torecord once the satisfaction of the monitoring condition has beenestablished, or, if step 200 is carried out after the entire call hasbeen recorded, as directives to retain the recording already made. Wherea first portion of the telephone call was pre-recorded prior toperforming step 200, it may be combined with any portions of thetelephone call recorded after satisfaction of the monitoring conditionhas been established.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the telephone number from which the call has been made. Themonitoring condition is satisfied if the telephone number or a portionthereof is in a database of telephone numbers whose calls are to berecorded, the information typically maintained in schedule database 38(FIG. 2). An example of a telephone number portion may be 212-xxx-xxxx,indicating that all calls from the 212 area code are to be recorded, or212-605-xxxx, indicating that only area code 212 calls from exchange 605are to be recorded.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the telephone number from which the call has been made. Themonitoring condition is satisfied if the telephone number is not in adatabase of telephone numbers whose calls are not to be recorded, theinformation typically maintained in schedule database 38 (FIG. 2). Anexample of a telephone number portion may be 212-xxx-xxxx, indicatingthat all calls outside the 212 area code are to be recorded, or212-605-xxxx, indicating that calls outside area code 212 and exchange605 are to be recorded.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprises retrievinga score for the agent, the information typically maintained in formsdatabase 42. The monitoring condition is satisfied if the score is equalto a predetermined reference score that warrants monitoring of the call.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprises retrievingthe number of calls which the agent has received and the number of thecalls which have been recorded, both of which are typically maintainedin calls database 34, and a percentage of the agent's calls which are tobe recorded, the information typically maintained in schedule database38. The monitoring condition is satisfied if the call currently inprogress must be recorded in order to comply with the percentage of theagent's calls which are to be recorded.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the department to which the agent belongs, the informationtypically maintained in admin database 46, retrieving the number ofcalls which the department has received and the number of the callswhich have been recorded, both of which are typically maintained incalls database 34 or may be calculated therefrom, and determining thepercentage of the department's calls which are to be recorded, theinformation typically maintained in schedule database 38. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the call currently in progress must berecorded in order to comply with the percentage of the department'scalls which are to be recorded.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesassociating the agent with a supervisor, with the agent's supervisortypically maintained in admin database 46. The number of calls which thesupervisor is to monitor in a given time period is then determined, theinformation typically maintained in schedule database 38. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if recording the call currently in progress andwithin the time period will not cause the number of calls to beexceeded.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining whether input has been entered into any data field appearingon a display of the computer. Evaluator 40 may provide this informationby comparing a captured screen with a reference screen into which nodata has been entered and storing an input indicator in forms database42.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining whether input has been entered into at least one specificdata field appearing on a display of the computer. Evaluator 40 mayprovide this information by comparing a captured screen with a referencescreen into which no data has been entered into the specific field andstoring an input indicator in forms database 42.

Reference is now made to FIG. 12 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining whether at least one specific data field appears on adisplay of the computer. Evaluator 40 may provide this information bycomparing a captured screen with a reference screen containing thespecific field and storing a field presence indicator in forms database42.

Reference is now made to FIG. 13 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the agent's skills, the information typically maintained inadmin database 46. The monitoring condition is satisfied if a possessedskill is among to a predetermined list of skills that warrant monitoringof the call.

Reference is now made to FIG. 14 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesidentifying at least one word spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the word is in a database of words whichrequire the recording of telephone calls. Such a word may be“supervisor,” possibly indicating a request to speak with a supervisor,or an obscenity.

Reference is now made to FIG. 15 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesidentifying a plurality of words spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if one or more “good” words as found in adatabase of words are not present the plurality of words. Such a wordmay be “please” or “thank you,” the absence of which might indicate aservice deficiency, and, therefore, a need to record.

Reference is now made to FIG. 16 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining a speech rate of words spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the speech rate exceeds a predefined speechrate, possibly indicating that the agent or the customer is talking toofast.

Reference is now made to FIG. 17 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining a speech rate of words spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the speech rate is slower than a predefinedspeech rate, possibly indicating that the agent or the customer istalking too slowly.

Reference is now made to FIG. 18 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the number of words spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the number of words exceeds a predefinednumber of words, possibly indicating that the call may involve arelatively complex issue.

Reference is now made to FIG. 19 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the number of words spoken during the telephone call, theinformation typically maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the number of words is less than a predefinednumber of words, possibly indicating that the call may not beprogressing satisfactorily.

Reference is now made to FIG. 20 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of determining step 200 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the determining step comprisesdetermining the state of emotion present during the telephone call usingconventional means, such as the TRUSTECH system, commercially availablefrom Truster, Ltd. of Israel. The data relating to telephone callemotion levels may be maintained in forms database 42. The monitoringcondition is satisfied if the detected state of emotion exceeds acertain emotion threshold as measured by the emotion detecting means.

Reference is now made to FIG. 21 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of an implementation of recording step 400 of FIG. 3,operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. In the method shown the recording step comprises recording atleast a portion of the agent's interactions with the computer aftercompletion of the telephone call until a stop condition is reached. Thestop condition may be an elapsed period of time and/or the receipt of anotification subsequent to the notification received in step 100 that acustomer telephone call is currently in progress with the agent.

Reference is now made to FIG. 22 which is a simplified flowchartillustration of a method of operation of monitoring system 16 of FIG. 1,the method being operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. In the method of FIG. 22 multiple notificationsare received from ACD 10 indicating that multiple calls are currently inprogress with multiple agents (step 500). Event manager 32 (FIG. 2) thendetermines whether recording resources are currently available forrecording thereto (step 600). If recording resources are currentlyavailable, event manager 32 signals voice logger 28 to select any of thetelephone calls at random (step 700) and record some or all of the audioof the selected calls (step 800) and screen logger 30 to record insynchronicity with the audio recordings of voice logger 28 some or allof the selected agent's interactions with the agent's workstation duringthe telephone call, preferably in the form of screen data captures (step900). Recording preferably continues until the recording resources areno longer currently available for recording thereto.

It is appreciated that any of the methods described hereinabove may becarried out after one or more of the telephone calls to be evaluatedhave been fully recorded. In such circumstances a telephone call ispre-recorded without regard to whether or not a particular monitoringcondition was satisfied. At a later time the telephone call is evaluatedto detennine whether the telephone call is to be retained by determiningwhether it meets a monitoring condition. The monitoring condition thusserves as a retention condition which, if satisfied, results in thepre-recorded telephone call being retained. The pre-recorded telephonecall is then tagged with a retention indicator to indicate that the callis to be retained. The telephone call may also be tagged with a releaseindicator indicating when the retention indicator is to be removed, suchas by specifying a predefined period of time after which said retentionindicator is to be removed, or by specifying that the retentionindicator is to be removed upon conclusion of an evaluation of thetelephone call or after a certain period of time thereafter. The taggingwith the retention indicator and/or the release indicator may be donesubsequent to performing an evaluation of said telephone call, such asby a supervisor. The release indicator may also indicate a storagethreshold such that the retention indicator is removed after the storagethreshold of recorded telephone calls is exceeded.

The methods and apparatus disclosed herein have been described withoutreference to specific hardware or software. Rather, the methods andapparatus have been described in a manner sufficient to enable personshaving ordinary skill in the art to readily adapt commercially availablehardware and software as may be needed to reduce any of the embodimentsof the present invention to practice without undue experimentation andusing conventional techniques.

While the present invention has been described with reference to a fewspecific embodiments, the description is intended to be illustrative ofthe invention as a whole and is not to be construed as limiting theinvention to the embodiments shown. It is appreciated that variousmodifications may occur to those skilled in the art that, while notspecifically shown herein, are nevertheless within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for monitoring telephonic interactionsof a agent with customers, the method comprising: a) determining whetherinteractions of said agent with a computer during a telephone call ofsaid agent meet at least one predefined monitoring condition, and, ifso: b) recording at least a portion of said telephone call.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein said monitoring condition is whether inputhas been entered into any data field appealing on a display of saidcomputer.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said monitoringcondition is whether input has been entered into at least one specificdata field appearing on a display of said computer.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein said monitoring condition is whether atleast one specific data field appears on a display of said computer. 5.A method according to claim 1 wherein recording step b) comprisesrecording an audio portion of said telephone call while recording insynchronicity at least a portion of interactions of said agent with saidcomputer during said telephone call.
 6. A method for monitoringtelephonic interactions of an agent_with customers, the methodcomprising: a) pre-recording a first speech portion of a telephone callreceived by an agent b) determining whether said first speech portionsatisfies a monitoring condition, and, if so: c) recording at least asecond portion of said telephone call.
 7. A method according to claim 6and further comprising combining said first and second portions.
 8. Amethod according to claim 6 wherein said determining step comprisesidentifying at least one word spoken during said telephone call andwherein said monitoring condition is whether said word is in a databaseof words which require the recording of telephone calls.
 9. A methodaccording to claim 6 wherein said determining step comprises identifyinga plurality of words spoken during said telephone call and wherein saidmonitoring condition is satisfied when at least one word in a databaseof words is absent from said plurality of words.
 10. A method accordingto claim 6 wherein said determining step comprises determining a speechrate of words spoken during said telephone call and wherein saidmonitoring condition is whether said speech rate exceeds a predefinedspeech rate.
 11. A method according to claim 6 wherein said determiningstep comprises determining a speech rate of words spoken during saidtelephone call and wherein said monitoring condition is whether saidspeech rate is slower than a predefined speech rate.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 6 wherein said determining step comprises determiningthe number of words spoken during said telephone call and wherein saidmonitoring condition is whether said number of words exceeds apredefined number of words.
 13. A method according to claim 6 whereinsaid determining step comprises determining the number of words spokenduring said telephone call and wherein said monitoring condition iswhether said number of words is less than a predefined number of words.14. A method according to claim 6 wherein said determining stepcomprises determining a state of emotion present during said telephonecall and wherein said monitoring condition is whether said state ofemotion exceeds a predefined emotion threshold.
 15. A method accordingto claim 6 wherein said recording step b) comprises recording an audioportion of said telephone call while recording in synchronicity at leasta portion of said agent's interactions with a computer during saidtelephone call.
 16. A method for monitoring agent telephonicinteractions with customers, the method comprising: a) recording, duringa telephone call between an agent and a party, either of at least afirst audio portion of a telephone call and at least a first interactionof said agent with a computer, said first interaction being held duringsaid telephone call; and b) recording, after the conclusion of saidtelephone call, at least a second interaction of said agent with saidcomputer in association with either of said first portion and said firstinteraction.
 17. A method according to claim 16 wherein said recordingstep b) comprises recording until a stop condition is reached.
 18. Amethod according to claim 17 wherein said stop condition is an elapsedperiod of time.
 19. A method according to claim 7 wherein said stopcondition is the receipt of a notification of a second telephone call inprogress with said agent subsequent to said first-mentioned telephonecall.
 20. A method for monitoring agent telephonic interactions withcustomers, the method comprising: a) pre-recording a plurality oftelephone calls between a plurality of agents and a plurality ofparties; b) determining whether any of said telephone calls is to beretained by determining whether any of said telephone calls meets atleast one retention condition, and, if so; c) tagging said telephonecall to be retained with a retention indicator.
 21. A method accordingto claim 20 and further comprising d) tagging said telephone call to beretained with a release indicator indicating when said retentionindicator is to be removed.
 22. A method according to claim 21 whereinsaid release indicator indicates a predefined period of time after whichsaid retention indicator is to be removed.
 23. A method according toclaim 21 wherein said release indicator indicates that said retentionindicator is to be removed subsequent to performing an evaluation ofsaid telephone call.
 24. A method according to claim 21 wherein saidrelease indicator indicates that said retention indicator is to beremoved after a predefined period of time subsequent to performing anevaluation of said telephone call.
 25. A method according to claim 21wherein said release indicator indicates a storage threshold and whereinsaid retention indicator is removed after said storage threshold isexceeded.
 26. A method for monitoring telephonic interactions of anagent with customers, the method comprising: during a telephone call ofsaid agent, comparing a captured screen of a computer associated withsaid agent with a reference screen into which no data has been enteredto determine whether said agent had entered input into a data fieldappearing on a display of said computer, and, if so: recording at leasta portion of said telephone call.
 27. The method according to claim 26,further comprising: storing an input indicator in a data base for laterevaluation.
 28. A method for monitoring telephonic interactions of aagent with customers, the method comprising: during a telephone call ofsaid agent, comparing a captured screen of a computer associated withsaid agent with a reference screen containing data in a specific fieldto determine whether said agent had entered input into said specificfield appearing on a display of said computer, and, if so: recording atleast a portion of said telephone call.
 29. The method according toclaim 28, further comprising: storing a field presence indicator in adata base for later evaluation.